Global financial crisis[edit]

The 2010s began amidst a global financial crisis that started in the late 2000s. In particular, the Eurozone debt crisis, which began during 2009, continued into the 2010s. Despite the crisis, the American Dow Jones Industrial Average had its longest stretch of gains since the late 1990s tech boom.[6] However, economic issues, including inflation and an increase in commodity prices, sparked unrest in many lower-income countries. In some countries, particularly those in the Arab world, political unrest evolved into socioeconomic crises. This set off numerous revolutions, including those in Kyrgyzstan and Tunisia in 2010, and Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Egypt in 2011 and 2012. This trend became known as the Arab Spring, and was followed by the Arab Winter.[citation needed]

War on Terror (September 11, 2001 –) – Since the September 11 attacks, the United States and other governments in the world have been engaged in a war to eliminate terrorism. However, over time the war began to be seen more negatively, with various consequences.[10][11][12] On May 23, 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama declared the war to be over, saying a war cannot be declared on a tactic and that anti-terrorism operations will be focused on specific groups instead.[13]

War in Afghanistan (October 7, 2001 – December 28, 2014) – The United States, with support from NATO, invaded Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and overthrew the government.[14] However, the Taliban later regrouped and began an insurgency in the country.[15] Combat operations were declared over on December 28, 2014, though several thousand troops remain in the country to support Afghanistan's military.[16]

Iraq War (March 20, 2003 – December 18, 2011) – On the pretext that the government of Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,[17] the United States and a coalition of partners invaded Iraq and overthrew Hussein.[18] After the invasion, the U.S. occupied the country.[19] However, the occupation subsequently created an insurgency by jihadist groups opposed to it and sectarian violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in the country.[20] At the end of 2011, U.S. forces officially withdrew from Iraq.[21]

Military intervention in Libya (March 19 – October 31, 2011) – In Libya, anti-government protests evolved into an armed rebellion after forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi began military operations against protesters.[22] In response to the brutal crackdown, the United Nations authorized an international intervention in support of anti-Gaddafi militias.[23] International forces, mainly from NATO countries, began airstrikes and enforced a no-fly zone.[24] The intervention came to an end following the death of Gaddafi in Sirte.[25]

Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War (September 30, 2015 –) – By early 2015, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria's civil war began experiencing major setbacks.[35] The Syrian government requested Russian military intervention.[36] The Russian Air Force subsequently began airstrikes with the alleged target being jihadist like ISIL,[37] but instead mostly targeted Syrian opposition rebels opposed to Assad.[38][39]

Civil wars[edit]

War in North-West Pakistan (March 16, 2004 –) –Since 2004, Pakistan has been fighting an insurgency by various armed militant groups in the country.[40] The violence has killed almost 57,000 people since,[41] with over 3 million more affected.[42] By 2014, however, casualties from terrorist and militant attacks had dropped by around 40%.[43]

Houthi insurgency in Yemen (June 14, 2004 – February 6, 2015) – The Houthis, a Shia militant group, waged a war against the Yemeni government.[44] Yemen had accused Iran of directing and financing the insurgency.[45] Thousands of rebels and civilians were killed during the conflict.[46][47] The insurgency came an end in 2015 when Houthi forces captured Sana'a and exiled the government to the port city of Aden.[48]

Mexican Drug War (December 11, 2006 –) – Following a rise in criminal violence as a result of drug trafficking in the country, Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared a war on drugs in December 2006.[49] Since the start of the war, the death toll from drug violence had sharply increased.[50] Arrests of key cartel leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, led to increasing violence as cartels fought for control of trafficking routes into the United States.[51][52][53]

Philippine Drug War (June 30, 2016 –) – Following a rise in criminal violence as a result of drug trafficking in the country, since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was inaugurated on June 30, 2016. It has caused 402 deaths.[54]

War in Somalia (January 31, 2009 –) – Following years of lawlessness in the country, the new Transitional Federal Government attempted to restore order in Somalia. However, Al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant group that gained prominence in the country during the period, had been waging an insurgency against the new government. In 2011, the federal government captured Mogadishu, the capital,[55] and subsequently retook several towns across the country.[56] Since then, the government has attempted to clean out the remaining Al-Shabaab strongholds with help from AMISOM soldiers.[57]

Colombian Armed Conflict (1964 –) – Fighting between the Colombian government, left-wing guerrillas, and various paramilitary factions had been ongoing since 1964. However, since then end of the Cold War, the violence has sharply decreased as rebel groups gradually became more weakened with only two major groups remaining, FARC and ELN.[58] The violence has killed over 222,000 people, mostly civilians since the conflict began.[59] Since 2012, both groups have been in peace talks with the government, with FARC and the government signing a ceasefire in 2016.[60]

Northern Mali conflict (January 16, 2012 – February 20, 2015) – In January 2012, a rebellion by Tuaregs in Northern Mali began. After Malian president Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup d'état, Tuaregs captured Northern Mali,[61] and declared it to be the independent state of Azawad.[62] However, shortly afterward, various Islamists groups took over Northern Mali from the Tuaregs and imposed sharia law on the region.[63]

Arab Spring[edit]

Libyan Civil War (February 15 – October 13, 2011) – Inspired by the revolutions in their neighbours, Libyans began to protest against Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule.[64] However, unlike in Tunisia and Egypt, Gaddafi refused to step down and sent in the military to brutally quell protests.[65] As a result, many army units had defected to the opposition and protests soon turned into an armed rebellion.[66] With international help from NATO and neighbors in the region, the rebels were able to make rapid advances into Gaddafi's strongholds, capturing Tripoli, the capital,[67] and eventually Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown and last outpost, where he was killed.[68] The war resulted in the death of at least fifty thousand people.[69]

Syrian Civil War (since March 15, 2011) – Protests erupted in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad's rule and called for democratic reforms.[70] The uprising later intensified after police and the army were sent in to crack down on protesters,[71] laying siege to various opposition strongholds in the country.[72] The uprising later morphed into war after army officers defected to the opposition, forming the Free Syrian Army (FSA).[73] Over the course of the war, moderate rebel groups, including the FSA, began to splinter and lose influence in the conflict,[74] allowing for Islamic extremist groups like Al-Nusra Front and ISIL to take control of vast amounts of territory. By 2014, ISIL was the main force fighting Assad.[75]

Nuclear weapons[edit]

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev signing the New START treaty in Prague.

In 2005, Iran's nuclear program became a source of tension due to fears that Iran could possibly divert civilian nuclear technology into a nuclear weapons program.[117] This led the UN Security Council to impose sanctions against Iran on select companies linked to Iran's nuclear program, causing further economic isolation of Iran.[118] In 2015, Iran and other world powers agreed to trade sanctions relief for explicit constraints on Iran's nuclear program, including permanently closing their plutonium reactor, reducing the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges by two-thirds and allowing the inspections of nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).[119] In January 16, 2016 the IAEA confirmed that Iran had complied with the agreement, allowing the United Nations to lift sanctions immediately.[120][121]

Cyber security and hacking[edit]

Cyber security incidents, such as hacking, leaks or theft of sensitive information, gained increased attention of governments, corporations and individuals.

July 25, 2010 – WikiLeakspublished more than 90,000 internal U.S. military logs of the War in Afghanistan. The documents revealed how the coalition used special forces to hunt down Taliban leaders and "kill or capture" them without trial, increasingly used drones to attack alleged Taliban positions, covered up evidence of the Taliban acquiring surface-to-air missiles and the deaths of civilians by coalition forces and Taliban suicide bombings.[129][130]

October 22, 2010 – Wikileaks disclosed nearly 392,000 U.S. Army field reports of the Iraq War, which documented multiple cases of U.S. authorities failing to report torture, rape and other abuses of detainees and purposely misleading the death toll of the war,[131] soldiers killing hundreds of civilians for coming too close to checkpoints and other war crimes.[132][133] The leaks also showed that Iran was involved in the war by supplying Shiite militias with deadly weapons for use against civilians, Sunni Muslims and U.S. Army soldiers.[134] It is the largest leak in the history of the U.S. military.[135]

April 2013 - The Offshore leaks is the name of a report disclosing details of 130,000 offshore accounts. Some observers have called it one of the biggest hit against international tax fraud of all times, although it has been pointed out that normal businesses may use the offshore legislation to ease formalities in international trade.[136][137] The report originated from the Washington D.C.-based investigative journalism nonprofit, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and was based on a cache of 2.5 million secret records about the offshore assets of people from 170 countries and territories, obtained by ICIJ's director.[137]

February 2015 - The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) website released information about bank accounts in Switzerland under the title Swiss Leaks.[144] The investigation was conducted by over 130 journalists in Paris, Washington, Geneva, and 46 other countries. Investigators allege that 180.6 billion euros passed through HSBC accounts held in Geneva by over 100,000 clients and 20,000 offshore companies between November 2006 and March 2007. The data for this period comes from files removed from HSBC Private Bank by a former staffer and handed to French authorities in late 2008.[145] The disclosed information has been called "the biggest leak in Swiss banking history".[146]

June 5, 2015 – The Office of Personnel Management of the U.S. government announced that it was hacked, resulting in a massive data breach, stealing information of around 21.5 million people.[147] The attack was suspected to have originated from China but it remains unclear if it was or not.[148]

March 27, 2016 – Anonymous Philippines has hacked the website of Commission on Elections to force them to place security features on Vote Counting Machine (VCM).[152] Soon, the LulzSec Pilipinas leaked sensitive information of voters all over the Philippines from the COMELEC website, and the incident has been called the "biggest government data breach in history".[153] On April 21, one of the hackers involved in the recent defacement and supposed leak of data from the Commission on Elections' official website has been arrested in Sampaloc, Manila.[154] On April 29, another hacker allegedly responsible for leaking the information of voters from the Comelec website was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation.[155]

April 3, 2016 – 11.5 millions confidential documents were leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that detailed financial and attorney–client information of more than 214,488 offshore companies.[156] The leaks revealed information of various world leaders, politicians, billionaires and celebrities being involved in hidden financial dealings within tax havens and companies doing business with terrorist organizations and governments under international sanctions.[157][158]

September 22, 2016 - Yahoo Inc. reported that account information for up to 500 million users in 2014 had been hacked.[159] Yahoo alleged in its statement that the act was "state-sponsored data breach."[160] It was believed that the hack compromised personal data from the accounts including names, addresses, passwords, telephone numbers and possibly encrypted information including security questions.[161] Further the statement claimed that the hacker was no longer in Yahoo's system and that the company was fully cooperating with law enforcement.[160]

August 15, 2011 – Esmael Mangudadatu, Governor of Maguindanao was a victim of a car bomb in Tacurong city, Sultan Kudarat. Two people were killed, including a Maguindanao board member, while six others were wounded.[255]

March 5, 2015 – Mark Lippert, United States Ambassador to South Korea, was rushed into hospital after he was attacked by a knife-wielding man identified as Kim Ki-jong at a restaurant attached to Sejong Center in downtown Seoul, where Lippert was scheduled to give a speech at a meeting of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation.[264]

June 16, 2016 – Jo Cox, British MP, was shot and stabbed to death following a constituency meeting in Birstall, England becoming the first British MP assassinated in over a quarter of a century and the first female politician in Britain to be assassinated.[267]

March 9, 2015 – Two helicopters collided in mid-air in a remote area of northwestern Argentina leaving at least ten dead. Among the dead were a group of French sports stars participating in a reality-television show called Dropped.[283]

General[edit]

April 24, 2013 – An eight story factory building collapsed in the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,129 people and injuring over 2,000 more, becoming the deadliest structural failure in history.[293]

June 1, 2015 – The river cruise ship Dong Fang Zhi Xingcapsized in the Yangtze River after being hit by a waterspout, killing 442 people, making it the deadliest maritime disaster in China's peacetime history.[311]

March 11, 2011 – A 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit near Sendai, Japan. It created a 30 feet (9.1 m) high tsunami, leaving 15,893 dead, 2,565 missing and over 150,000 displaced.[338][339] It was the largest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years.[340]

October 25, 2012 – Hurricane Sandy caused immense destruction in Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the United States, leaving at least 233 dead.[345] It became the largest Atlantic tropical storm ever.[346]

March 13, 2015 – Cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu, killing a total of 16 people with around 166,000 people affected, more than half the population of the entire country.[354] It is the worst tropical cyclone to ever strike the country.[355]

February 20, 2016 – Cyclone Winston struck Fiji, killing 44 people and causing over $2.98 billion in damages, making it the costliest tropical cyclone in South Pacific history.[367]

April 16, 2016 – A 7.0 earthquake struck near Kumamoto City of Kumamoto Prefecture, resulting in at least 44 deaths and about 3,000 injured. More than 44,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.[368]

May 1, 2016 – A wildfire began southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. On May 3, it swept through the community, destroying more than 2,400 homes and buildings and forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta's history.[370] The wildfire is the costliest disaster in Canadian history.[371]

August 12, 2016 - The 2016 Louisiana floods are a period of prolonged rainfall in southern parts of the U.S. state of Louisiana that resulted in catastrophic flooding that submerged thousands of houses and businesses. The flood has been called the worst US natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy in 2012. 13 deaths have been reported as a result of the flooding.

Economy[edit]

In the United States, a Gallup poll in 2011 found that more than half of Americans believed the country was still in a recession.[380] Global oil production in 2014 reached an historic peak, reaching 93 million barrels/day.[381]

A sovereign-debt crisis in Europe began in early 2010, and the Greek government admitted that it was having difficulties servicing its large sovereign debt. In the summer and fall of 2011 bond yields for Italy and Spain spiked above 6 percent.[382] By 2015 bond rates had returned to normal ranges across Europe, save for Greece, which accepted another, even more stringent bailout package. The size of the European Financial Stability Facility was increased from €440 billion to €2 trillion.[383]

China became the second largest global economy, surpassing Japan.[384]

In August 2011, the S&P downgraded the United States' credit rating from triple AAA to AA-plus.[385]

India became the fastest growing major economy of the world in 2015, surpassing China.[386]

Many countries reported declining fertility rates in their 2010 censuses.[388] Young people now spent their entire lives in the context of online interactive technology.[389]

Aging[edit]

The 2010s are the decade in which most baby boomers in developed nations are to retire, putting pressure on pension programs and other safety net programs. The consequences of an aging society were felt hardest in Europe, Russia and Japan, which were the first to experience substantial population decline.[390][391][392] Over 20% of Japan's population is over the age of 65, making it the most elderly nation.[393] As a result, Japan examined alternative solutions for elder care, including robots.[394][395] In the United States, proposals for revising Medicare and Social Security proliferated, including raising the age of retirement or adjusting benefit amounts. Opponents instead wanted to increase benefit levels.[396][397][398][399][400]

In 2010, France debated and raised the retirement age from 60 to 62, despite widespread demonstrations in opposition.[401] A few years later the threshold was lowered back to 60.[402]

Political polarization[edit]

Political polarization increased as conservatives and progressives clashed over the role of government and other social, economic and environmental issues. US polls showed a divided electorate regarding job creation, debt reduction and taxation.[403][404][405][406][407][408] Street movements protesting the increasing numbers of refugees from Islamic nations have developed, such as the English Defence League and Pegida.[409][410] There have also been increasing calls for egalitarianism including between the sexes.[411]

In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that criminalized expression of homosexuality.[425] Prior to its passage, St. Petersburg drafted its own ban on homosexual expression, and banned pride events as well.[426]

Youth culture[edit]

In 2013, Baauer's "Harlem Shake" was the first Internet meme song to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Top 100, reflecting a shift in popular culture as Internet memes became mainstream.[427]

The youth of the 2010s were called the "best-behaved generation on record." In May 2014, the US Centers for Disease Control released a report stating that teenage pregnancies and their uses of drugs and alcohol reached record lows.[428] A 2013 survey showed that the rate of teen smoking dropped to 15.7%, the rate of teenagers having underage sex dropped to 34% and the rate of teenagers participating in a physical fight dropped to 25%, much lower than their counterparts 22 years earlier.[429]E-cigarette and smokeless tobacco use among teenagers rose.[430]

Other social trends[edit]

New urbanism and urban revival influenced urban planning in the United States and other developed countries.[431] However, growth of American suburbs still outpaces urban growth.[432]

China was increasingly called a superpower in the early 2010s, including at the 2011 meeting between Hu Jintao and Barack Obama. China overtook the US as the world's largest trading nation, filing the most patents, expanding its military, landing its lunar rover Yutu on the moon, ending the nearly four-decade malaise of moon exploration and creating China's Oriental Movie Metropolis as a major film and cultural center. China was projected to have the world's largest economy by 2018 with an estimated GDP per capita equal to the US by the late 2050s.[434]

In America, migration declined to its lowest level since tracking began in 1948.[435]

AIDS, a pandemic responsible for killing over 30 million people since its discovery in the early 1980s, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, became a treatable condition, though only one case had been cured.[436] With good treatment patients can generally expect normal lives and lifespans. However, as of 2011[update] only some 5 million of the 12 million afflicted have access to such treatment.[436]

The state of California suffered through a water drought for the most part of the decade, affecting the way how Californians showered, use their drinking water, and even some of their electricity.

Technological Marks by Field[edit]

Information and communications[edit]

April 3, 2010 – Apple Inc. launched the iPad, its first tablet computer, which offers multi-touch interaction. The iPad became an immediate bestseller and only months after its release became the best selling tech gadget in history.[486]

May 25, 2012 – SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft became the first private commercial spacecraft to successfully attach to the International Space Station, the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous with another spacecraft.[507]

Notable events[edit]

October 13, 2010 – Thirty-three miners near Copiapó, Chile, were trapped 700 metres (2,300 feet) underground in a mining accident in San José Mine, before being rescued after surviving for a record 69 days.[529]

In many Western countries, the growing of a full beard became a popular trend among young males in the early-to-mid 2010s, with some suggesting this was due to the influence of the hipster subculture and the Movember campaign.[550][551] Other facial hair styles such as moustaches and goatees were popular during the most part of the decade. The "undercut", a variation of a crew cut, was made a trend by rapper Macklemore in 2013. This style has been embraced by the hip-hop, hipster and punk subcultures.

Film[edit]

Movies and television struggled to maintain their position, as online viewing grew rapidly.[552]Piracy was a major concern for the industry.[553][554][555] In 2012 Viacom launched a US$1 billion lawsuit against YouTube for copyright infringement.[556] In early 2012, the United States Congress began debating the SOPA and PIPA bills that were heavily lobbied by the entertainment industry.[557]

3D films gained popularity, led by Avatar in late-2009.[558][559][560] In 2010, Avatar became the first film to gross more than US$2 billion.[561] Other 3D releases were also successful.[562][563] The video game and television industries also released 3D content.

Music[edit]

EDM, synthpop, indie, and trap see mainstream success throughout the early to mid 2010s. R&B and hip-hop rose to prominence again in 2013 and has remained the most popular form of music since.[598][599] Digital music sales in 2012 topped CD sales.[600]

In May 2016, Real Madrid became the most successful team in the UEFA Champions League, winning a total of 11 championships since 1956.[627]

In May 2016, Leicester City became champions of the British Premier League for the first time in their 132-year history.

On June 19, 2016, The Cleveland Cavaliers won their 1st championship in the 2016 NBA Finals. The Cavs were the first in the NBA history to make a historic comeback in pursuit of title coming down from a 1-3 series deficit.

^Elena L. Aben (17 January 2013). "US War Ship Runs Aground in Philippines". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 19 January 2013. The Guardian arrived last 13 January for a port call and fuel stop in Subic and was transiting the Sulu Sea on Thursday when she ran aground.

^Masood, Salman; Ellick, Adam B. "Floods in Pakistan Kill at Least 700". NYTimes. On Sunday officials reduced the number of dead to 730, saying earlier reports on Sunday, reaching as high at 1,100, were not credible